The Wisconsin women's hockey team took a strong win in the first game of its series against Minnesota State but needed a shootout Saturday to earn a sweep in Mankato.
The No. 2 Badgers remain one point behind No. 1 Minnesota in the WCHA standings after the Gophers swept North Dakota over the weekend. With just one series to go in the 2008-'09 season, Wisconsin will need to sweep Bemidji State and have the Gophers lose at least one game against St. Cloud State to take the regular-season WCHA title.
In Friday's game, the Badgers were firing on all cylinders, taking an 8-1 win thanks in part to their strength on special teams - Wisconsin scored on four of its six power-play opportunities and earned two shorthanded goals.
Four minutes into the first period, junior Minnesota State forward Christina Lee was called for hooking, setting up a power-play goal from sophomore Kelly Nash that put the Badgers up 1-0. Junior forward Meghan Duggan turned a Maverick penalty into Wisconsin's second goal of the game, giving the Badgers a 2-0 lead heading into the first intermission.
In the second period, Minnesota State cut the Wisconsin lead in half when freshman Jackie Ott beat Jessie Vetter on a slap shot to bring the Mavericks within one, but that goal would be the only good news for Minnesota State in the second period.
On a powerplay minutes later, Wisconsin sophomore forward Mallory Deluce scored on the rebound from a shot by freshman center Brooke Ammerman. This gave Deluce her first of two goals in the game and Ammerman her second assist of the afternoon.
Goals from junior wing Jasmine Giles, Ammerman and sophomore wing Hilary Knight capped off a four-goal second period that gave the Badgers a 6-1 lead after two. Wisconsin tacked on two more in the third from Ammerman and Deluce to finish off the 8-1 victory.
In game two, however, the Badgers faced a tougher challenge.
After jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the first period thanks to goals from sophomore Anne Dronen and Knight, Wisconsin let the game get away from them in the second period.
Rachel Bible's attempt to break up an opportunity for Minnesota State sophomore Nina Tikkinen resulted in a hooking call and a penalty shot for Tikkinen. She scored, cutting the Badgers' lead to 2-1.
Later in the period, Minnesota State's Ashley Young and Emmi Leinonen scored within a minute of each other to give the Mavericks a 3-2 lead. Knight's second goal of the afternoon tied the game for Wisconsin in the third period, sending it into overtime.
After a scoreless overtime period, the Badgers converted on two of their three attempts thanks to Knight and Ammerman, winning the shootout and taking two points from the 3-3 tie.
The Badgers now return home to face Bemidji State in the final series of the regular season.
- uwbadgers.com contributed to this report.
